"The FBI recommends that all government, private industry, and academic personnel who travel abroad take extra caution before updating software products on their hotel internet connection," IC3 warns. "[Check] the author or digital certificate of any prompted update to see if it corresponds to the software vendor may reveal an attempted attack.

"The FBI also recommends that travellers perform software updates on laptops immediately before travelling, and that they download software updates directly from the software vendor’s website if updates are necessary while abroad."

Reading between the lines, the agency is urging business travellers to safeguard themselves against malware-based attacks that are ultimately aimed at industrial espionage. ®